Not All Companions are Horses
by 99pizza
Summary: Everyone Knows that Companions and their Heralds die together. So why should it be any diffrent fot this feline shaped Companion and his Earthling Chosen?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do _you_ think 99pizza looks like Mercedes Lackey

Companion Acton was fourteen and the oldest unbonded Companion in the field, he was also the only one with heart problems and because of this none of the Heralds or other Companions thought that he was ever going to choose. That is why it was no surprise when Acton died without a Herald or Trainee at his side or in tears as they buried him. No, what was a surprise to Acton himself is what happened after his death.

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There was nothing unusual about the three forked road ahead of him or the man standing in to his left. Nothing unusual except for the third path that had defiantly not been there on his previous two visits here. "Hello Acton, I believe you have just discovered your third option." Acton _looked_ at the Shadow Lover before asking _:What is it:_ "I believe you know the first two choices but, there is a reason you haven't chosen yet and it is because this girl is in a different world. Your third option is to go to her world and choose her." Acton took an eager step towards the first path. "Wait," said the man "The third choice has two conditions the first is that you would not be in your own form you would have to be in that of a cat so as not to stand out and the second is that the girl _must not_ know of the Choice or her Gifts while she is alive. Choose wisely witch path to follow." Acton paused for a moment and said _: No Companion would ever deny their call:_ Before turning and walking down the third path.

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Emily walked carefully out to her car in the vet's parking lot with her cat, Acer in her arms. _Finally _she managed to get the back door open and Acer settled on the seat. 'I have the best job in the world' thought Emily for about the millionth time that week as she got in the car and began the drive home.

It was true too, ever since she had gotten the job as a vet's secretary two years ago she had been able to bring Moses to work with her every day. Acer purred contentedly in the back seat and gave the impression that he agreed about her job being perfect.

Emily thought back to the day almost three years ago when she had first met Ace'. It had been a warm day fairly mild for mid-October and she was just leaving her apartment building for work when she had nearly tripped over the poor little thing. When she had bent down to get a closer look his white fur was soaking and full of fluff from bull rushes as though he had been swimming in the swampy river on the other side of the road. When the little wet fluff-ball looked her in the eyes, his own being blue on the left and a blue-ish grey on the right she was filled with a sense of love and the feeling that this little Creature had just adopted her and was going to do everything possible to protect her.

Emily sighed and smiled that had been the most amazing day of her life, sure she'd had pets before but never one that could understand her so well. She and Ace got along perfectly, he could always understand what she was saying and vice versa even though Ace couldn't speak in words. In fact there were times when she thought they could even tell what the other was feeling. But of course that was only her imagination she often imagined she could feel what others were feeling and that her moods affected theirs, but after all things like _that_ like the Herald and Companion bond, like Talia and Rolan or Vanyel and Yfandes only happen in books, she thought wistfully don't they? I mean Jason is always telling me how close Ace' and I are but it's only talk, right…

Emily's thoughts were interrupted when the car hit an icy patch but instead of slipping for a second and getting over it she screamed and Ace hissed as they seemed to slide on forever like it would never end until the car slid off the road and into a tree. By the time her ears had stopped ringing from the impact Emily was sitting, barely able to breth with her face in the airbag and her last thought before she lost herself in the darkness of an airless world was for the little white cat on her back seat.

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Acer was lying contentedly on the seat and purring while _His_ Chosen person was lost in thought. He was glad to be heading home, as much as he loved being with Emily it was hard work to protect his Chosen from all the dogs that entered the clinic. His Chosen, he loved being able to finally say that even if there wasn't anyone here that he could share it with, it was worth having to switch worlds to find the person that was his. _His_ and his alone. Damm. now that he was thinking of Emily it was clear that she was getting much too close to the truth, time for a subject change that was one thing the Shadow Lover made perfectly clear to him before he was sent here his Chosen was never to learn of the Choice and bond or her Gifts while they were alive and in this world.

Hmmm… diner, yes it was time for her to start thinking about what to have for dinner, fish would be nice…

Ace had just inserted himself deeper into Emily's mind and was about to give that little twist he had used so many times before that would cause Emily to suddenly loose her train of thought when the car swerved and he was thrown from his seat. Ace gave an angry hiss and was about to jump back up when the car hit the tree and the airbag in the door inflated. Once Ace had managed to partially block out his Chosen's panic he was overwhelmed by his own as he realized that she was dying and in a heartbeat Emily, the bond and everything that made it worth living in this strange and unknown world had disappeared.

Sometime later after Ace had exhausted himself and lay down in the carrier one of the police had put him in he overheard them talking "Poor thing, if he hadn't been on the floor he would have been suffocated like that owner of his.." and that was the last Ace knew for the next several hours.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily let out a soft groan as she woke in a surprisingly soft bed; her bed wasn't this soft... As she opened her eyes to look around the memories came rushing back to her along with an unexpected heartache. While she cried silently for Acer who was surly dead she failed to notice the stranger who had entered or the surprising lack of medical equipment. A good ten minutes later once she had managed to quiet and then altogether stop the tears that were soaking both her cheeks and the pillow beneath her she noticed the distinct lack of noise, if she was at home she would at least hear the children from the family who lived above her unless they had already went back to school but if that was the case she must have been out for quite a long time because the winter holidays had only just started three days before the crash.

She _could_ be in a Hospital but like she had noticed before the bed was too soft and she didn't hear any beeping from the equipment that should be there to tell all and sundry that she was still alive however dead she might look.

Emily sat up to look around and check that she was indeed in a Hospital and had only gone deaf, temporarily of course. She gasped and stared wide eyed as she caught sight of the old man sitting in the corner by the door while scanning the otherwise almost empty the room. After a second look even without her glasses it was clear that the "old" man was in fact a fairly young man looking no older than perhaps thirty- five, except for his hair. The next step was to reach blindly for the nightstand wear she somehow _knew_ her glasses would be and slip them up her nose. That completed she looked back to the man hoping that her eyes were playing tricks on her. Unfortunately he chose that moment to stand and walk over to her in the unfamiliar bed dispelling any hopes that she had gone deaf and blind.

The stranger sat on the edge of the bed and all the while keeping eye contact said in heavily accented English "I'm glad to see that you're awake. You gave us all quite a shock when you turned up unconscious six candlemarks ago." Emily blinked stupidly at this statement and took a minute to process what the man had said. Candlemarks, Was that really what he said? No his accent was thick she had probably misheard him. Yes, that was it because if it wasn't that would mean she was dead or hallucinating because the only place _she_ knew of using candlemarks were the Valdemar books.

_After the thought of being dead struck her Emily, seemingly from out of nowhere blurted out "Am I dead? Did I have a heart attack?" The white haired man paused for a moment to think of a reply and responded with " I do not know what you are speaking of with this attack of the heart but, physically at least your heart is in one piece. As to your first question that would be one way to phrases it." Oh thought Emily I guess the crash really did happen, I hope that Ace' is happy wherever he is... At this point Emily began to cry again at the thought of her beloved cat and everyone she was leaving behind. The stranger moved to comfort her but at the idea of being hugged by this strange man after losing Acer and discovering that she was dead Emily turned away from him and buried her face in the pillow. _

_The stranger stood quietly and left the room quickly falling into step with his shey'kreth'ashke who has been waiting outside the door for him._

_Once they were far enough away from the room of their unhappy guest to not risk being overheard by her Starwind turned to his ashke and said "I told you that we should have given her some time alone at first to mourn for her Companion and I don't envy you the job of explaining why you didn't tell her about all this in the first place" Starwind made a sweeping gesture when he said 'all this.' " A phrase as simple as Welcome to the havens would have at least given her a hint." Moondance sighed, "I know but I thought it best to avoid all explanations considering hot insistent the shadowlover was about letting her figure it out in her own time that she had a Companion that I thought it best no to explain anything to begin with." "Oh well" said Starwind "what's done is done and can't be changed."_


End file.
